American Pizza Community APPLauds INTRODUCTION OF Bipartisan ‘Common Sense’ Menu Labeling Senate Bill

 Seeks Reduced Burden on Small Business, Clearer Information for Consumers



Washington, D.C., October 29, 2015 – Members of the American Pizza Community (APC), a coalition of pizza companies, franchisees, and suppliers who employ over 400,000 Americans, today announced their support for the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015 (S. 2217), introduced by Independent Senator Angus King of Maine and Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri.



“The American Pizza Community strongly supports the Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act, as it provides cost relief for small business job creators and meaningful education to consumers,” said Lynn Liddle, Chair of the American Pizza Community.  “Senators King and Blunt are demonstrating, through their leadership, that both bipartisanship and common sense solutions are alive and well in the U.S. Senate,” Liddle added.



S. 2217 seeks to improve the final menu labeling requirements (Section 4205) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that were issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last December.  Among other provisions, the bill would permit covered establishments that receive a majority of orders remotely to provide calorie information on a remote access menu, such as one available on the Internet or on a mobile app, instead of in-store menu boards customers never see.  It also protects businesses from being penalized for inadvertent human error and prohibits frivolous class-action lawsuits.



“The current menu labeling rule remains expensive, ineffective, and unworkable even after the FDA issued guidelines for the regulation in September.  FDA’s current approach would compel thousands of small-business owners to spend tens of millions of dollars maintaining in-store calorie-labeling information that 90 percent of customers, likely, will never use when placing an order.  This bill does not grant any exemptions, but instead empowers small business to deliver accurate calorie information to our customers in a way that is useful and fits the unique needs of small business pizza restaurants,” stated Liddle.



On April 28, 2015, U.S. Representatives Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-WA) and Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) introduced the House version of The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act of 2015, H.R. 2017.